YCS London 2018: Top 8 Player Profiles

After 11 Rounds of Swiss and 2 more Knock-Out Rounds, the field was trimmed down to the 8 most successful players of YCS London. All of them put in a lot of work to get where they are now. Some of them are no strangers to Top 8 and one even made it twice in a row. Please read on and take a look at their profiles!

Name: Peter WarneckeAge: 25Country: Germany, close to BerlinHow do you feel right now? It’s my first Top 8. I’m still super excited, but also very satisfied. I made a good choices during my Deck building process. I’m super confident with my card choices and I’m happy I didn’t make any last-minute changes like I usually do.What Deck are you playing today? Pure Sky Striker – It’s the Deck I like most. I like the cards and the artworks, and my favourite card is Raye.Any awesome tech cards you want to let the world know about? I run three Solemn Strike, Solemn Judgment and Black Horn of Heaven in the Main Deck. I’m so glad I put them in. The cards put in tons of work for me this event.Final words? Remember: Sky Striker is the most beautiful Deck in the world!
Shoutouts to BB Land Berlin and my Team Seventh Sense and my best friend Julian Macharski and Daigo Umehara.

Name: Benjamin RobinsonAge: 16Country: UK, from up northHow do you feel right now? I feel like this whole event is like a miracle! I came here with no expectations at all and went all the way undefeated through Swiss. Finally, all the playtesting paid off.What Deck are you playing today? Gouki and 5 Sky Striker cards. I’m comfortable with Gouki. I feel like a lot of people dismissed the Deck, because they thought it is bad in the current environment. But it is still capable of building a big board that is hard to handle for my opponent.Any awesome tech cards you want to let the world know about? I run Eagle Booster as another extender that helped me out a lot. I’m also maining three Magical Mid-Breaker Fields for handtraps and Sky Striker.Final words? Shoutouts to everyone who helped me test. The whole is still very surreal for me. I put in a lot of work, but I didn’t expect to go this well.

Name: Tayfun BayraktharAge: 22Country: Germany, SaarbrückenHow do you feel right now? I’m feeling good, I’m happy to probably win this time, after being 2nd at YCS Rimin and 3rd in Bochum 2018. I feel like I profited a lot from beingin my new team.What Deck are you playing today? Altergeist – I feel like my current match-ups are very good. I’m also prepared for Danger!Any awesome tech cards you want to let the world know about? Mind Crush in my Main Deck was very good. The card is basically a tech pick against all the current Decks. A crucial Mind Crush is key to winning the match.Final words? Shoutouts to Team E-Man Games.

Name: Bodhan TemnykAge: 25Country: Australia, PenrathHow do you feel right now? Good, although my Deck is very luck-based. I assumed that I would loose to certain circumstances that I cannot have influence on, but my Deck is also way more powerful than all the rest.What Deck are you playing today? Danger! FTK – all the Danger! monsters are so big! Yfou have the chance to Summon multiple monsters in one turn without losing steam and additionally you have the option to FTK.Any awesome tech cards you want to let the world know about? Outer Entity Azathot is a very underrated card.Final words? Shoutouts to my team, my local OTS and Jim McMahan.

Name: Mirko ZanelliAge: 20Country: Italy, BresciaHow do you feel right now? It’s my 1st Top 8 and I’m very excited about it. I made other five tops, but never made it above Top 32.What Deck are you playing today? Sky Striker – it’s the most consistent Deck. You have no bad match-ups at all. I prefer this Deck to a combo Deck like Danger! or Gouki. Even if you don’t open with a broken hand, you are still able to play.Any awesome tech cards you want to let the world know about? I run Shared Ride in the Main Deck. Other spicy card against Thunder Dragons are Super Poly and Mind Control. I side these in against Thunder Dragon and choose to go second.Final words? Shoutouts to my Team E-Man Games and all of my friends who supported me.

Name: Jonathan LjungmanAge: 22Country: SwedenHow do you feel right now? It’s 2nd top, but my 1st Top 8! I’m very happy and a little bit nervous, overall I feel very excited.What Deck are you playing today? Sky Striker – it’s the most consistent Deck. Even with bad hands you are able to play. Also, I didn’t want to play the FTK.Any awesome tech cards you want to let the world know about? I run There can only be one in my Side Deck. It’s an additional floodgate especially against Thunder Dragons. It worked out very well for me.Final words? Shoutouts to Team Victory and the Flight Stewardess that let me on the plane that I was supposed to miss.

Name: Andre DeluryAge: 21Country: UKHow do you feel right now? I feel great. It’s my 1st Top 8 and it’s a memorable moment for me.What Deck are you playing today? Thunder Dragons – I already enjoyed Thunder Dragons back in 2005 during Chaos format. As soon as I found out that they will receive support I had to check and run them ever since.Any awesome tech cards you want to let the world know about? My 41st card is a searchable Denko Sekka. I’ve played a fair few Decks that rely on trap cards. So, it was very helpful having it Game 1.Final words? I love BLS!

Name: Ping XiaoAge: 30Country: UKHow do you feel right now? I feel quite happy to make it to Top 8. It’s my 2nd YCS top, but it’s been a while since my last time. In fact, it was YCS Brighton in 2011.What Deck are you playing today? Trickstar Sky Striker – an unexpected choice. It is the Deck I feel most comfortable with. I piloted a similar Deck to Top 32 at Euros.Any awesome tech cards you want to let the world know about? I run three Mind Control and three Widow Anchor. Both cards are amazing against the Pure match-up. I faced five pure Sky Striker Decks during Swiss and it is fantastic against them.Final words? Shoutouts to everyone on Team TKB.